The blessed girl's destiny (a harry potter fanfiction)

Chapter 4

The Order's headquarters had never been so lively. That was saying something considering an army of adults and a pack of teenagers had spent the summer there. You could feel it was back to school: everybody was shouting, Molly was obsessing over her children, Hermione was checking off her last-minute supply lists, Ron was trying to finish his breakfast, Sirius was telling his last-minute story of his time in Hogwarts to whoever would listen. The twins were trying to play a last-minute prank on Kreacher, the household's house elf.

And Vanessa was standing in the middle of it all: it was highly entertaining; despite the dingy first impression, she was going to miss this place. Eventually (and surprisingly) the chaos subsided, and everyone was ready to go. And so they went to King's Cross Station.

"Be good kids!" Molly was saying a last-minute goodbye to everyone. After saying goodbye to her, Vanessa turned to board the train until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, and Vanessa, don't worry about the sorting or about Hogwarts: you'll do great, I'm sure of it. And if anybody gives you any trouble, tell me right away; I'll be sure to send a howler." Vanessa didn't know if it was the warm embrace of the woman, the kind words, or the motherly vibe she gave off, but she couldn't help tearing up a bit. Only Vanessa was too prideful to show it, and she quickly hid her expression with a grin, thanking Molly and telling her she was going to miss her.

"Quick! We're going to miss the train. Hurry up!" the twins screamed, obviously over-exaggerating their reaction. But they were still right: as soon as they stepped foot on the train, it began moving, almost making them topple over, as they remained in fits of laughter while they searched for a compartment. As they were walking down the aisles, a compartment opened, the door hitting Fred right in the nose as George doubled over laughing.

"Ahhhhhh that hurt! I almost died."

"Oh, I'm so sorry; are you alright?" The person who had opened the door looked quite concerned, at least until he realized who he was talking to.

"Serves you right: you almost killed my door."

"Excuse me, your door??"

"Um, do you guys know each other?" Vanessa was quite confused and didn't know what to make of the conversation: she was torn between thinking they were serious or hysterical.

"Please, I would never associate with carrots. I'm Lee Jordan, pleasure to meet you."

"Haha, very funny now–"

The twins' outraged and insulted expressions at her interruption were hilarious.

"I understand; I've been trying to get rid of them for weeks. Vanessa Taylor, by the way; the pleasure is all mine."

"Okay, okay, that's a really funny joke you two have going on. Now my jaw is tired from all the laughter, so what do you say we go inside?"

With huge grins on their faces, Lee and Vanessa followed the twins into the compartment and they sat down.

"So how do you guys know each other?" At Vanessa's question, the twins tried to replicate the same joke Lee had made but were quickly cut off by Lee.

"We've been partners for years."

"Partners?"

"Well, we do allow him to help out a bit with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and we have let him participate in a few of our pranks." Lee was not impressed at Fred's attempt to downplay their partnership, and he practically said as much through the side-eye he gave him.

"How do you know each other?"

Vanessa glanced at the twins; they hadn't yet agreed on a lie that could hide the Order. It seemed as if they were trying to mime to her, only that made her more and more confused.

"Uh... family... friends. Yes, that's right, through family friends."

Lee looked at her skeptically and turned toward the twins, who quickly stopped their miming attempts to look at him with what they obviously thought were innocent smiles. Thankfully, at that exact moment, a knock sounded on the door, providing a perfect escape: it was the trolley lady.

The train had almost arrived at its destination, which is why Vanessa had gone to the bathroom to change into her robes. Only, the expected arrival made Vanessa think of what was to come: in only a few hours, she would be sorted, the decision that would determine her year at Hogwarts. Being in the same compartment as the twins had made her momentarily forget about that, and even though she was grateful for the distraction, it only meant that fact hit her hard in the face. And so, Vanessa could not stop thinking about the sorting hat ceremony as she walked to and from the bathroom, as she changed, and as she sat back down in the compartment. She was worried about not being in the right house, of the sorting hat making a mistake, and the more she dwelled on it, the more she realized she was ultimately scared of not fitting in. At Durmstrang, she didn't have these fears because no one actually fit in, but it was different here, where your house was supposed to be your "family." Has she even ever fit in anywhere? At home, there was hardly a family to fit into; it was only her and her mum: she didn't know anything about her father, she had never asked, she didn't see the use because the only things she knew about him were that he was dead and Romanian.

"Hey Vanessa, didn't you say you had an owl?" George's question pulled her out of her increasingly dark thoughts.

"Huh? Well, I never said that."

"But you did, though," Fred pointed out.

"No, I said I sort of have an owl."

"That's the same thing," the twins exclaimed at the exact same time.

"How can you sort of have an owl?" Lee was incredulous.

"I don't have an owl, just something that is kind of like an owl."

"Is it a bird?" "An eagle?" "A hippogriff?"

They kept shooting questions without giving her time to respond.

"Well, I can show you," she said while getting up, reached into her bag, and took out a box the size of a book. Then, she slowly opened it, and as soon as the box was wide enough, a big black shape zoomed out of it and started flying all around the compartment. The three boys screamed, Fred jumped when he felt something brush against his arm, George fell on his bum, and Lee got up on the bench. Needless to say, it was very chaotic. Then, she held out her hand, and the shape came and rested on it. It was still enough to see what it was.

"A bat!?" Fred was the first one to see it; Lee still stayed back, George slowly got up.

"Yeah."

"How did you get a bat?!"

"No, no, no, why did you get a bat?"

"I'll do you one better: when did you get a bat?" Everyone was incredulous, but the panic had subsided enough that everyone regained their seats.

"It was just a dare at school; his name is Batman, obviously."

"Batman?"

"You don't know Batman?!" It was Vanessa's turn to be incredulous, and as soon as she had put Batman back into his magically enchanted box, she launched into a very long explanation of who Batman was and why it was a crime to not know him. She hadn't even realized that she had forgotten all about the sorting ceremony and her fears of not fitting in.